Pray for those who abuse you
This week, we had the good fortune to host a group of migrants and their priest at the parish. They celebrated Mass and Adoration. As I struggled to follow the Spanish language, I was touched by their prayers and blessings for our country. While they are accepted, to an extent, we have not been very welcoming to them. They have faced abuse of one kind or another.
As I reflected on this, my mind turned to this week’s Gospel Luke 6: 27-38 ‘I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.’
The best example of this is Jesus himself, who with his family were once migrants in Egypt, and who while he hung on the cross, prayed ‘forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.’
The presence of migrants among us was a reminder that love and mercy are not just ideals but actions we are called to live out daily. It is easy to speak of welcoming the stranger, yet much harder to truly embrace them in our communities and hearts. Their faith, expressed so fervently in a language I struggled to understand, spoke volumes about resilience, hope, and the power of God’s grace in the midst of suffering.
As I listened to their prayers, I realized that our response to them is not just about charity but about living the radical call of the Gospel choosing compassion over indifference, understanding over fear, and love over exclusion.
I look back at my life and recognize how truly blessed I have been. Aside from a few moments in the corporate world, I have rarely faced situations where I had to turn the other cheek in the way Jesus describes. Yet, the Gospel still speaks to me, calling me not just to be grateful for my blessings but to open my heart to those whose lives have been defined by hardship, injustice, and the constant need to forgive.
I think about the migrants I recently met, who have endured rejection and struggle, yet still find the strength to pray for the very society that often overlooks or mistreats them. I think about the countless individuals who have suffered discrimination, abuse, or betrayal and have had to choose between bitterness and the difficult path of love.
The Gospel challenges me not only to acknowledge their suffering but to stand with them, to listen, to advocate, and to embrace them with the same radical love that Christ shows to all.
Friend, if you are experiencing this abuse in your life, by all means, try to escape to a better life, but also consider, that in the meantime, you are in good company, as you can better identify and join in with the suffering of Jesus.
This week, I am embarking on a couple of new initiatives. I have started an online bookstore, where I will be reading and discussing my extensive library of holy books. You can join the bookstore at the link (Emmaus Bookstore LINK). I am also starting to produce short video clips on the daily Gospel, to be shared only on Substack Notes, on the Substack app.
This work is part of the online Ministry of the Word, an attempt to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. You can become a patron of this ministry, and receive its graces, by upgrading to a paid subscriber at the link below.